The Wait Is Over. College Football Kicks Off Tonight.

During my first year working at the Spurs in 1993, assistant coach Rex Hughes would walk the halls yelling out “anyone got extra tickets” in an attempt to reward the staff at the Embassy Suites where he lived.

Despite a rough start to the season, he always seemed to be in a good mood so one day I made the mistake of inquiring why they weren’t playing certain guys enough. His smile disappeared and his response was loud and to the point as he said “What the hell do you know about NBA basketball?” He walked off ending a very short conversation.

Rex had a point as I hadn’t stepped on a basketball court for a competitive game since 8th grade. Since I pride myself on being coachable, I made a point to never talk to coaches and players about the strategy again. Instead I stuck to safer topics like movies and current events.

I know there will be similar responses when I start opining about college football as I have never played a competitive game of football in my life. However, I do hope to pass along insight gleaned from 10+ years working in the industry and my experiences with college coaches, players, media members and sports information staffs.

That being said, I want to start slow to help build up my thin skin so this week I asked Valero Alamo Bowl President/CEO Derrick Fox to lend a hand as the first week of college football starts tonight. His preview is below:

Dear Fans:

The wait is finally over as the 2009 college football season begins tonight! The Valero Alamo Bowl conference partners (Big Ten and Big 12) are well represented in the Preseason Top 25 as the Big Ten has three (3) teams and the Big 12 has four (4) teams.

This weekend in the Big Ten

#6 Ohio State hosts Navy in The Horseshoe.

#8 Penn State welcomes Akron to Happy Valley.

#21 Iowa hosts Northern Iowa @ Kinnick.

Indiana plays host to Eastern Kentucky in Bloomington (tonight).

Illinois goes to St. Louis to meet rival Missouri.

Michigan hosts Western Michigan in The Big House.

Michigan State hosts Montana State in Lansing.

Minnesota goes to the Carrier Dome to face Syracuse (whose starting QB is Greg Paulus, most recently the Duke point guard).

Northwestern welcomes Toledo to Evanston.

Purdue hosts Toledo in West Lafayette to kick-off the Danny Hope era as the new HFC replacing Joe Tiller.

#11 Oklahoma State hosts #13 Georgia in Stillwater. The Cowboys enter the contest with the highest preseason ranking in school history (and quarterback Zac Robinson nursing a hamstring pull) and looking for revenge for a blowout loss to Georgia in Athens last year.

#22 Nebraska hosts Florida Atlantic in Lincoln.

Iowa State hosts North Dakota State in Ames as the Cyclone fans welcome new HFC Paul Rhodes (tonight).

Missouri plays rival Illinois in St. Louis.

Kansas hosts Northern Colorado in Lawrence.

Texas A&M hosts New Mexico in College Station.

Texas Tech hosts North Dakota in Lubbock.

Kansas State hosts UMass in Manhattan and the Wildcat faithful eagerly await the return of HFC Bill Snyder to see if he can “do it again” by rebuilding K-State.

Colorado squares off against in-state rival Colorado State @ Invesco Field in Denver (Sunday).

#5 Alabama meets #7 Virginia Tech in Atlanta. This one should be a good one as both teams enter the season with BCS and National Championship aspirations.

#14 Oregon travels to Boise to meet #16 Boise State (tonight on ESPN). The Ducks enter the contest looking to avenge their loss to BSU in 2008, while the Broncos enter the contest with a 49-game home winning streak and BCS aspirations this season on the line.

#23 Notre Dame hosts Nevada in South Bend. The Irish enter the season ranked in the Top 25 for the first time since 2006. Since the Irish take on the Cougars on Halloween in San Antonio, we’ll keep a keen eye on the Irish as the season progresses.

Have a great rest of the week and enjoy the first weekend of exciting college football action.